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As Tennessee mourns the lives of those killed in a mass shooting at a Christian school this week, speculation about the killer’s gender identity has quickly become embroiled in the fight against transgender and LGBTQ rights.
Police killed the shooter about 14 minutes after a 911 call from The Covenant School in Nashville, where three nine-year-old children and three school staff members were shot to death Monday morning.
Speaking to the media a few hours later, Nashville’s police chief said the killer, Audrey Hale, is transgender and suggested the 28-year-old’s gender identity may have something to do with her motive and the manifesto she left behind. The shooter’s gender identity has never been verified and police have yet to comment on it.
But several right-wing groups, media outlets, politicians and commentators quickly seized on the shooter’s gender identity, sparking an already contentious debate.
All of this comes as Tennessee and other states are passing laws aimed directly at the LGBTQ community — specifically targeting transgender people — and amid a wave of angry rhetoric and protests. There are fears that the situation could worsen if the shooting is used as a catalyst to pass legislation seen as taking away the rights of transgender and other LGBTQ people.
The LGBTQ community in Nashville mourns the victims like everyone else, said Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, noting that many people relate to the tragedy.
“In Tennessee, we’ve lost so much to shootings, and it’s scary to think of the spiral we’re going to be in,” he told CBC News.
Three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday. The shooter was killed by police and is believed to be a former student
Tennessee law targets transgender people
Sander has worked for the Tennessee Equality Project for the past 10 years and previously volunteered with the group for ten years. But this year has been the worst we’ve seen in terms of state legislatures introducing bills aimed at restoring LGBTQ rights.
One of the few laws passed in Tennessee this year had been scheduled to go into effect Saturday, before a federal judge temporarily blocked it hours before it took effect. The law will place some limitations in drag performances in public or in the presence of children.
Tennessee is one of dozens of states where more than 400 anti-LGBTQ laws have been passed this year, according to the report American Civil Liberties Union.
These bills and laws address everything from access to gender-affirming care, gender expression, inclusive education, transgender people’s involvement in sports and access to public spaces such as bathrooms.
As it happens6:19 a.mTennessee just passed a law restricting drag — 1 of many such bills in the US
Drag performer Steve Raimo says the goal of Tennessee’s new anti-drag law is to silence and erase people like him — but it won’t work. “I’m sorry, but no piece of legislation is going to stop me from being me,” he told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
Fear of repercussions
Sanders said it’s not clear at this time if the discussion about the shooter’s gender identity will have implications for the LGBTQ community, or for bills still moving forward in the state legislature.
But there is a “tremendous escalation of the fear factor” about whether transgender people will face some form of retribution for the killer’s actions, said Marisa Richmond, a Nashville resident and professor of gender studies and history at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
He said several events planned for International Transgender Visibility on Friday were postponed out of grief and respect for the lost lives, but also out of security concerns.
“I understand why some people may be reluctant to put themselves in a very visible way given the public mood that exists today,” said Richmond.
Trans people become ‘scapegoats’
Since Monday’s tragedy, some anti-transgender rhetoric has surfaced online and in the media.
The headline “Transgender Killer Targets Christian School” was splashed on the front page of New York PostTuesday edition. Influential Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson spoke to Tuesday night broadcast that the trans movement is the “enemy of nature” of Christianity. He also claimed there was a “rise in trans terrorism.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, demanded to know “how many hormones like testosterone and drugs for mental illness” the shooter may have taken.
It is unclear whether Hale underwent gender-affirming therapy involving hormones and there is no evidence to conclude hormone replacement therapy caused the mass killings in Nashville.
This type of discussion is used to deflect gun control issues and use marginalized groups as “scapegoats,” said Brynn Tannehill, a writer on LGBTQ issues based in the Washington, DC area.
“[People are] trying to frame it as a trans issue and asking us to debate whether transgender people are dangerous,” said Tannehill, who also has a background in counterterrorism analysis.
“Republicans are always trying to find some other reason, besides ready access to high-powered assault rifles, as a reason for especially deadly mass shootings.”
Analysis of The Violence Project found the overwhelming majority of killers involved in mass shootings – nearly 98 per cent – were non-transgender people.
Transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence compared to the general population, according to organizations such as Human Rights Campaign.
This week, the world witnessed another mass shooting at a school in the U.S. Three 9-year-old students and three staff members were killed. Andrew Chang discussed how this school shooting has been particularly politicized by some members of parliament.
Focus on gun control to protect children
Tannehill, Sanders and Richmond all agreed that the focus should be on fixing gun laws instead of enforcing laws on transgender and other LGBTQ people under the protection of children.
“If you want to protect children, that’s where you really start, and [politicans] don’t do that,” Richmond said.
Various data analysis from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that firearm-related incidents – including suicide and homicide – are among the leading causes of death for children and adolescents.
As Nashville grapples with the grief of Monday’s shooting, Sanders said he’s also heard “a lot of pain and fear” from parents of LGBTQ youth who are dealing with two situations that affect their children.
“I wish I could say I thought it would go away, but it didn’t,” he said.
What young LGBTQ people need today, they say, is to see their parents and other adults in their lives stand up for their rights, safety and existence.
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